What does the phrase “Catcher in the Rye” mean?
Great Guns ‘n Roses song. It’s about John Lennon whose assassin was obsessed with the book of the same name. The meaning behind the book title is based on a misreading of a line in the song “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye,” by Robert Burns, which Holden heard a young boy singing. Holden mistakenly substitutes “When a body catch a body, comin’ thro’ the rye” for “When a body meet a body, comin’ thro’ the rye.” Interpreting the line literally, he imagines a field of rye with a high cliff at the edge. Children wander through the field until they fall off the edge where they are caught by a paid catcher. Here’s a YouTube link to the song.
